The Effect of Certain Conditions on the Efficiency of Enzymes

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Introduction

The Effect of Certain Conditions on the Efficiency of Enzymes Daniel Peterson Purpose To investigate the best conditions for the breakdown of H202 (Hydrogen Peroxide) by enzymes. Hypothesis If the enzymes in liver and potato break down H202 in various conditions of pH, temperature, and surface area, then the fastest reaction will be with neutral pH, warm temperature, and ground up (surface area). Procedure Guidelines In this lab, all the reactions are done in a 24-spot spot plate. Each spot is filled about halfway with H202, and then the substrate is added. The temperature and pH were then measured as needed. To see the outcomes of all the reactions, look at the attached data chart. For results see attached diagrams and graphs. Discussion An enzyme is an organic substance that increases the speed of a reaction. In this lab the enzymes have 3 conditions: pH, temperature, and surface area. Both the liver and the potato contain catalase. A substrate is the substance that the enzyme is reacting upon. ...read more.

Middle

The chunk of potato however only got 1.5. In the ground vs. chunk reactions, the ground potato did very well compared with the chunk of potato. However, the ground liver did not do as well as the chunk of liver. This was probably because there was more liver in the chunk of liver reaction than in the ground liver. The ground enzyme substance did better because more of the enzyme could meet the substrate at one time. In the temperature reactions, the warm liver did the best, followed by room temp, cold, and then boiled. While each enzyme has a preferred working temperature, warm usually is a good one for most. Room temperature and cold ranked based on how close they were to warm. The boiled one did not do well at all. In fact it did nothing. This is because after about 98?, the enzymes in a substance denature, the lose their shape, therefore rendering them useless. The boiled liver had already reached this point, and therefore had no potent enzymes left to speed up the reaction. ...read more.

Conclusion

Peroxisomes are organelles found in the liver and kidneys that break down things that are bad for your body like alcohol and Hydrogen Peroxide. Catalase is one of the enzymes inside peroxisomes that does the breaking down of H202. H202 only bubbles when poured on the blood instead of on the skin because blood contains peroxisomes carrying catalase, which react with the H202. Conclusion In the chunk reactions, the liver did well but the potato did not. However, in the ground up reactions, the ground liver was about the same as the chunk liver, while the ground potato was way better than the chunk potato. In the temperature reactions, warm did the best, followed by room temp., then cold. The boiled liver made no difference to the the reaction at all. In the pH reactions, all three did pretty badly with the best one (ph of 12) only scoring a 2. In the reusability reactions, the reused liver worked as well as the chunk liver, but the reused H202 did not work at all. Literature Cited > http://www.worthington-biochem.com/introBiochem/tempEffects.html 12/9/01 > Johnson, George & Raven, Peter. Biology: Principles and Explorations, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Austin. 2001. > http://www. worthington-biochem.com/introBiochem/effectspH.html 12/9/01 > > > > ...read more.